Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis Uritinus was a Roman politician and general of the 5th century BC, who served as consul once in 459 BC.

Family

Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis Uritinus was a member of the patrician gens Cornelia and was the son of

Servius Cornelius Maluginensis Servius Cornelius Maluginensis was a Roman senator who was elected consul in 485 BC. Family Maluginensis was from the patrician ''Cornelii Maluginenses'', one of the oldest attested branches of the '' gens Cornelia''. It is possible that he ca ...

, the first consul of the family who acquired the office in 485 BC. Cornelius was either the father or brother of

Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis was a Roman politician and member of the Second Decemvirate in 450 and 449 BC. Family He was part of the ''Cornelii Maluginenses'', patrician branch of the ''gens Cornelia''. He was grandson of Servius Cornelius Malu ...

, who served as a member of the

decemviri The decemviri or decemvirs (Latin for "ten men") were some of the several 10-man commissions established by the Roman Republic. The most important were those of the two Decemvirates, formally the " decemvirate with consular power for writing ...

in 450 and 449 BC.

Consulship

In 459 BC, Cornelius was elected consul alongside Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, himself a two time consular. In this year, two events occurred which necessitated armed conflict, firstly the

Aequi 300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi ( grc, Αἴκουοι and Αἴκοι) were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early hist ...

ans stormed the city of

Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable distance from Rome ( ...

, a Roman ally, and secondly an array of

Volsci The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

ans and Roman colonists rose up in revolt in the Roman colony of

Antium Antium was an ancient coastal town in Latium, south of Rome. An oppidum was founded by people of Latial culture (11th century BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), then it was the main stronghold of the Volsci people until it was conqu ...

. In response to these events, the senate assigned Fabius to fight the Aequians, and Cornelius to put down rebellious Antium. Upon arriving in Antium, Cornelius confronted the rebellious Antiates in battle, defeating them and putting them to flight. Cornelius then ravaged the nearby territory and laid siege to Antium. In response the Antiates attempted a sortie but were easily defeated. After this Cornelius resolved to take the city quickly and, with the use of scaling ladders and battering rams, thenceforth took Antium by storm. Upon entering the city, Cornelius took much loot and riches to deposit in the treasury and had the ringleaders of the rebellion scourged and beheaded. Upon returning to Rome, the senate decreed that both he and his colleague Fabius, who had also succeeded in his own campaign, be granted triumphs. There is another tradition, which is imparted by

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

, which states that there was no Antiate rebellion and that both consuls conducted a joint campaign against the Aequians at Tusculum. This sequence of events seems less likely however, as the

Fasti Triumphales The ''Acta Triumphorum'' or ''Triumphalia'', better known as the ''Fasti Triumphales'', or Triumphal Fasti, is a calendar of Roman magistrates honoured with a celebratory procession known as a ''triumphus'', or triumph, in recognition of an impor ...

records triumphs celebrated by both consuls against different enemies.

Later life

In 449 BC, in the midst of the second year of the second set of decemviri, which included his son or brother Marcus and his former colleague Fabius, the decemvirs summoned the senate to discuss whether they should raise a levy to defend against the Sabines and Aequians, who had just raided Roman territory. Many senators, including Gaius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis the uncle of the leading decemvir

Appius Claudius Crassus Appius Claudius Crassus Inregillensis (or Crassinus Regillensis) Sabinus ( 471–451 BC) was a Roman senator during the early Republic, most notable as the leading member of the ten-man board (the Decemvirate) which drew up the Twelve Tables of ...

, denounced this measure and demanded that the decemvirs abdicate from their illegal holding of power and restore the consular government. Offended by this denouncement, the decemvirs turned to Cornelius for his opinion, who advocated for the measures of the decemvirs and reproached the detractors of the decemvirs as being jealous and spiteful of their positions and thus willing to neglect the pressing issues of the state in order to resolve their petty grievances. Cornelius then recommended that the senate allow the decemvirs to carry on the campaign, after which the decemvirs could be compelled to resign and the consular government restored. This sentiment grew to be quite popular among the senators who spoke after Cornelius, in part because they feared the power of the decemvirs. Lucius Valerius Potitus, an enemy of the decemvirs then spoke next, but the details of what he said varies between the sources, with Dionysius of Hallicarnassus stating that he recommended appointing a dictator, while Livy writes that he threatened to take his demands for the decemvirate to be overthrown to the people. Either way however, after Valerius had finished speaking, Cornelius, in fear that the proposal of Valerius would beat out his own, demanded that deliberations be put to an end and voting started. In the end the majority still preferred the proposal of Cornelius, and the decemvirs set out to war against the Sabines and AequiansDionysius of Hallicarnassus, XI, 7-21

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Maluginensis Uritinus, Lucius 5th-century BC Roman consuls Senators of the Roman Republic Maluginensis Uritinus, Lucius